Chapter 258 : Chapter 258
Chapter 258 : The Kingdom's Legacy
As I stood there unable to catch my bearings, Bolero spoke from behind.
"I made up my mind when you punished those two in the Sanctuary, Brother."
I soon found out the whole story.
Bolero had confessed to Isaac about the 'Seven Sins' and Raven's true identity.
It was the most realistic and certain consolation Bolero could offer for the lovers who were still unable to recover from the tremendous shock.
That the humiliation you suffered was by no means because you were weak or foolish, but because the opponent was a non-human existence beyond the category of humans in the first place, so it couldn't be helped.
That it was simply bad luck.
"To be honest, it was truly a comfort. At least I could relieve a little of the resentment toward myself."
I did not make any reply. Isaac added in a bitter voice.
"......I must look pathetic. In your eyes."
Is it an inferiority complex? I didn't feel it was particularly worth replying to, so I turned my head and looked at Bolero.
As our gazes met, he subtly avoided my eyes, pressing his lips firmly as if embarrassed.
The moment I first met the guy came to mind.
With a body as big as a mountain, acting all sly, talking about classified matters and such was so displeasing that I wanted to smack him once.......
Such a guy broke a taboo for the sake of those lovers.
It meant he had confessed to outsiders a secret that Solari had sought to eradicate from this land while simultaneously keeping quiet about it for a long time.
Well, so what? Thanks to that, color is returning to Isaac's face, which had looked completely dead, isn't it?
With this, Bolero became a benefactor who saved my and Isaac's lives.
A corner of my heart felt strangely lighter. Somehow, I felt like I had completed a task that had carried over from my past life.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
I wrapped up my thoughts like that. Well, what's good is good, isn't it?
"Raven was also very interested in the Imperial Capital's politics."
Isaac cleared his throat and changed the subject. His eyes had become much clearer than before.
"He used to criticize and mock the behavior of the Imperial Capital nobles, headed by Chancellor Zisair. Saying that flattering the Chancellor instead of the King was a precursor to a ruined nation."
".........."
"I just listened without much thought back then....... Only now do the pieces fit together."
It seemed Raven had also revealed his dissatisfaction and grudge toward Zisair in small bits and pieces besides this.
On top of this, seeing as he eventually witnessed the Lust Demon and Phantom Demon fighting each other tooth and nail, it was not unreasonable for Isaac to premise that the Seven Sins did not get along with each other in the first place.
"Raven used to say it like a habit. That even while the entire Imperial Capital was being encroached upon by Zisair, Simone alone was the last sanctuary and the only resting place untainted by him."
The Lust Demon admitted it with his own mouth. That the very person who created the Wild Dogs and Sewer Rats was himself.
Just like the Sword Demon who became the founder himself and watched over the lineage of each knight family from the side, the Lust Demon had also reigned as the invisible leader of the Wild Dogs and Sewer Rats while changing bodies.
'If so, it's reasonable to see Simone as another seed the Lust Demon sowed.'
The Wild Dogs and Sewer Rats, who mobilized beggars across the Kingdom to scrape together even the lowest-level information, and Simone, who used that information as leverage to grasp the shameful secrets of the upper class.
'A flawless top-to-bottom network, where two organizations at opposite extremes smoothly interlock and operate.'
A massive spider web designed by the Lust Demon to stand against Zisair.
'The Lust Demon didn't hide his hostility toward Zisair from me until the end.'
If so, there's nothing to lose. At the very least, there won't be any backstabbing.
"Thanks. This'll be a big help."
"I leave it to you, Bihen Benkou. Please, uproot the last remaining evil with your own hands."
The last.......
I quietly repeated to myself. Suddenly, my mouth felt bitter.
The Eight Demons and the Seven Sins.
I didn't know the reason for the difference until recently, but now I know.
'Ghost Demon.'
It was a guy whose identity was unknown because he never revealed himself to the human world. He was an existence so thoroughly shrouded in a veil that even the same Eight Demons bastards didn't know his whereabouts.
Of course.......
There's no need to intentionally incite anxiety by revealing this fact right now.
Dealing with an unseen enemy on my own is enough.
"Leave it to me."
I answered shortly.
***
I don't know how long it's been since I faced the sunlight. As I exited the secret passage and stepped onto the surface, I finally felt a refreshing sensation in my chest.
"If we ride at full speed, we should reach the Imperial Capital in two days."
Edard, a young priest who ended up accompanying me, spoke as he readjusted his pack.
Due to the attacks by the Demonic Beasts controlled by the Lust Demon, the situation in the Shadow Village was not comfortable either. I tried to refuse his help, but Bolero insisted on attaching this young priest to me using the excuse of supplies.
"Do you have horses?"
"Of course. Please follow me."
The outside of the passage I came out of following Edard was in the middle of a lush forest. After walking a bit while parting the bushes, a small wooden building secretly hidden among the trees revealed itself.
"It's the stable we use. The caretaker is also a devout believer of Solari."
Looking closely, it was closer to a small, shabby cabin in the forest than a stable.
The old stablehand guarding the place handed over a horse to me and Edard each, as if he knew everything without even asking.
"May the wisdom of Elzerus be with you."
"May the courage of Elzerus reside with you."
The old stablehand and Edard pressed their palms together and exchanged a short scripture. It seemed to be in place of a greeting.
—Across all the magic schools in the Imperial Capital, it's probably the only sanctuary, along with Solari, where Zisair's shadow hasn't reached.
Isaac's words suddenly came to mind.
I couldn't question it closely because things were hectic, but looking back now, there's a part that catches my mind.
'If the Wild Dogs and Sewer Rats, and Simone, which are the legacy of the Lust Demon, are outside of Zisair's control......, wouldn't the origin of Solari also share the same track as them?'
A suspicion that perhaps Solari might also be a legacy left behind by one of the Eight Demons.
Or the possibility could not be ruled out that it was a massive mechanism planted by a behind-the-scenes powerhouse on par with them.
—Revere Elzerus, and protect His country.
..........
The resonance of the Old Knight shook my skull after a long time.
"Is something wrong, Brother?"
Edard awakened me from my deep thoughts. I hastily composed my expression.
"It's nothing."
At some point, a well-polished trail opened up widely. Edard seemed to have enough leeway to occasionally turn his head and check if I was following well, even while pulling the reins with all his might.
"Your horseback riding skills are quite good. What did you do before becoming a priest?"
"My father ran a fairly large ranch. From a young age, I helped out and only chased after the rears of horses, so from a certain point, sitting on a horse became much more comfortable than walking."
Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth went up. In my past life, I had hoped to live such a pastoral life leisurely after my discharge from the military.
"That's nice. But how did you end up becoming a priest?"
Was it because I felt an internal sense of intimacy? My voice became noticeably lighter.
"Uh, well. Actually, this is a secret that even the members of our order don't know...... I'm telling you for the first time, Brother Bihen."
Edard wriggled his hands holding the reins and laughed as if embarrassed.
"I coincidentally saw the Saintess putting on a traveling performance and fell in love at first sight. Hehe."
"Are you talking about Priest Nebria? That person putting on a performance?"
"Ah, you didn't know. At one time, Priest Nebria was a songstress so famous that there was no one in the Imperial Capital who didn't know her."
I blinked my eyes rapidly. The moment the universal image of a songstress suddenly came to mind, Edard hurriedly waved his hands.
"Oh no, it was different from such a secular stage. Rather than fancy theaters, she was someone who toured underdeveloped villages or remote mountain hamlets to comfort people with her dancing and singing."
It was an embarrassing situation to even make excuses that I didn't particularly misunderstand anything. Regardless, it was simply surprising that Nebria had such a past.
"She was the object of envy for many men. Then one day, I coincidentally heard a rumor that the Saintess had joined a magic school called Solari. Following that path, I recklessly sought it out, half out of curiosity and half out of personal motive, and—"
Edard lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"It ended up like this. But the me of now is not the immature kid from back then. Of course, the image of Priest Nebria as a praying Saintess has become much more familiar to me than the singing songstress, too. In the end, even the moment I first met her was a revelation from Elzerus to lead me down this path."
Come to think of it, Bolero and those wild kid priests alike casually kept the phrase 'revelation of Elzerus' on their lips like a habit. To the people of Solari, a revelation didn't seem to be a simple beautification of coincidence, but truly a massive inevitability that supported their lives.
"But it's only because everyone doesn't say it; there are probably quite a few brothers like me among the priests at the main branch in the Imperial Capital. Just taking Priest Bolero for example, it's a known fact to those who know that he was a renowned fighter in the back alleys."
Edard glanced at me.
"What does it matter how it started? Isn't that right?"
Most likely, average Imperial citizens are bound to feel an instinctive aversion to a massive power they cannot control, or to a divine existence that makes them look relatively pathetic.
Well, I wasn't much different either.
"......Then, the son of a low-ranking martial arts family of the Empire and the son of a Kingdom ranch owner riding horses side by side like this, is all this also a revelation from your Elzerus?"
At my question, Edard slightly widened his eyes, then soon smiled brightly.
"Of course."
***
It has been exactly two days since I left Shadow Village.
'The Imperial Capital, Aleos.'
Strength entered the hands holding the reins. My heart pounded for some unknown reason.
The sight was in such stark contrast to my memories of my past life that I was almost completely entranced for a fleeting moment.
'......It's beautiful.'
It's an honest impression. Enough to make me suspect whether the god of fate, who gave me the serendipitous encounter of regression, was playing a mischievous trick just to tease me.
The towering fortress walls that seemed to pierce the sky blended in perfectly among the lush greenery and autumn leaves, as if they had been there from the very beginning.
The mystery of Mother Nature, or...... I felt like I could believe it if it was called a structure truly crafted by a god.
"Brother Bihen. Have you ever been to the Imperial Capital?"
"......I've only seen it from afar."
To be precise, it was the wretched end, burning at the edge of the horizon.
"There are quite a few gates leading inside the Aleos walls. Among them is one that's essentially exclusive to our Solari. I laid all the groundwork with the guards early on. If we go there, you can enter right away with me without any complicated procedures, Brother."
I thought things would have been quite annoying if I were alone. Seeing it in person, it wasn't on a scale where one could just blindly walk in. On top of that, it was obvious that Zisair had definitely tried some tricks.
I silently followed behind Edard. It was a gate located a bit far around, branching off from the spacious main road. Was it only this place? The number of guards wasn't as high as I expected.
"Edard. Sorry, but that friend is a no-go."
It was while I was blankly spectating the walls soaring distantly above my head.
I pulled my chin in at the guard's words heard from the front.
At some point, the surrounding guards were all staring at me with sharp gazes.
"W-What are you saying all of a sudden! It's not the first time we're bringing in a vagrant for missionary work!"
"That's why it's a problem this time. The atmosphere up top is no joke right now."
The guard lowered his voice and pushed Edard away. He glanced at me, then continued speaking as if fed up.
"It's a strict order to unconditionally turn anyone away to the central gate if they don't have a pass or identification plaque. We have to do as we're told, so what can we do?"
"N-No, but still! After taking so much from us—"
"Hey, shh! This young friend is spouting nonsense!"
"Mister......!"
"If I say no, just know it's a no! Do you want to see someone drop dead? Tsk!"
I called out to Edard from behind.
"Edard. I changed my mind. Let's pretend joining Solari never happened."
"Pardon? What are you......"
I pulled the front brim and pulled my hood down deeper.
One guard in the back was narrowing his eyes, alternately examining my face and the wanted poster in his hand.